Fandom Pride Festival: The Park, Saturday

[drumsticksandd20s]

There was a rainbow. An actual rainbow arcing up over the island: a Fandom Pride tradition, actually, as Steph found out from one of the NPC workers helping with setup. (Which she wouldn't argue about; that was pretty perfect, if you asked her.)

And the park? It was an explosion of color, with rainbow pennant banners strung up over the picnic table area (where the tablecloths were in all the different colors of the progress Pride flag) and various Pride flags put up pretty much everywhere.

On one side of the picnic area a very large rainbow bounce house/inflatable slide formed the centerpiece of the carnival area, and yes, one side of the slide did dump people out into a rainbow ballpit. A couple of smaller rides and some games were spread out surrounding the slide, as well as all the booths set up by local businesses and groups.

On the other side of the picnic area was the stage, set up for karaoke or any open mic adventures people might care to have; beside the stage was a portable and semi-automated DJ setup, which explained the source of the music playing from the speakers whenever the stage wasn't in use.

Sure, it was pretty humid out, but arguably it wouldn't be Pride if you didn't have to remember to use sunscreen and stay hydrated.

[OOC: OCD is up. Happy Pride, Fandom!]

Comments

Arrive/Mingle!

[drumsticksandd20s]

And do all those things you do at a park picnic area for Pride.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[hasaknightjob]

Steven had intended to come to the event anyway. The fact that he was still feeling a bit down and in need of a distraction was only extra motivation. He arrived and looked about to see who was there.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[alwaysonguard]

This was a first for Dwight. But he was there and admittedly interested to see what all was going on.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[anomaly_research_nerd]

Connor had to be honest he was a bit surprised to hear a place as small a this was doing something official like for Pride, which made him all the more interested to see what was going on. So he and Rex had headed out to the park and started walking around, taking it all in.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[died8yearsago]

Rosa was mostly just glad that Anna Pavlova had figured out how to finally escape that cupboard yesterday so that the two of them could make an appearance long enough to make the most out of the little bi-pride scarf she'd gotten for the dog.

And she wouldn't lie, there was something deeply satisfying about no longer having to deal with that deeply uncomfortable feeling of being a queer cop at Pride any more.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[throughaphase]

Kitty figured Lexi might have fun at this sort of thing, and what was actually happening was total overstimulation and there was a toddler who wanted to do everything and didn't know where to start.

Which was fun for Kitty for now and would be super tiring in an hour.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[outofthequiver]

Was Libby a little bit awkward about this? Yes. Maybe a little more than awkward, but Zo would never forgive her (well, actually, Zo would forgive her for a lot of things, and Libby would actually be the one who wouldn't be able to forgive herself) for missing it, so she was there to check it out, very tentative, very wide-eyed, and...honestly? Very curious, too.

And trying not to take pictures and send texts to Zo every five seconds, which was made a little more difficult with Zo texting her every five seconds instead, with things like 'Baby's First Pride!' and asking questions, half of which Libby honestly wasn't even sure how to answer and more than a few occasions of being bummed that they couldn't be together for it.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[napking]

Gray had a extremely on-brand t-shirt and his rainbow Converse. He was ready to celebrate!

...possibly after he took a nap draped across a picnic table.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[pocketpretzels]

Watts was... here? Dressed in his best suit, it should be noted. Or at least his favourite, in any case- the green plaid, with the paisley tie and the checkered waistcoat.

For the record, he had absolutely no idea what things one did at a park picnic area for Pride.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[pun_king]

"Zounds!" Graham and Triumph came riding on into the park with wide-eyes and bushy tails.

Well, Graham had the wide eyes, Triumph had the bushy tail, but that's why they made such a great team! Either way, Triumph kept a slow and steady pace so Graham could look around and admire everything, from the booths to the decor to the gathered crowd. "This looks great!"

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[heroic_jawline]

Steve had learned his lesson about asking Jan to weigh in on what he should wear at Pride Celebrations, which was was Steve was in a pair of jeans and a size smedium white t-shirt. His corgi, Patriot, was on a leash with a rainbow bandana around his neck, trying to drag Steve towards the food smells.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[craic_killer]

Clare was there, rainbow pins and all, looking decidedly nervous about being here. Could people tell she was a wee lesbian?

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[misshapen_spark]

Like Yang was going to miss this! She had used her fingers to paint her right cheek with the colors of the bi flag, and thrown on her combat boots, sunglasses, a purple tank-top that really showed off her arms, and cut-off jean shorts.

She was ready for a good time, and to try and ignore all the weird feelings about her various relationships.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[kawaii_complex]

Sakaki would have been perfectly content in helping Sidon get everything ready for the puppy pride part of the parade tomorrow, but the prince had insisted that she get out there and enjoy herself, so there she was...awkwardly standing off to the side and not knowing what to do, except for what she always did at the big events now, which was just stare at Triumph and try to work up the courage to go introduce herself.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[drumsticksandd20s]

Steph was around! Steph was all over the place, actually, changing up the music playlists and making sure things were okay around the booths and the attractions, in her t-shirt that said "Don't Forget to Love Each Other," surrounded by a bunch of d20s in Pride flag colors because of course she would.

But she looked incredibly happy to be here, and relieved that things had come together so well.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[in_sidon_we_trust]

Sidon certainly wouldn't impart such good advice to little Sakaki without following it himself, of course! So, naturally, he took a break from puppy prep to make it down to the park for the big event itself, with no small amount of enthusiasm and excitement.

Sidon didn't believe in doing things in small amounts, after all!

"Marvelous!" he gushed, upon arrival and in great appreciation for seeing so many people out and about and having good time. "Fan-tastic! Truly!"

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[furrybluefreak]

Kurt had a few things to take care of, mainly dealing with that regular check in from the Professor earlier that day. When that was done though, Kurt had decided to head to the park and see what all was going on.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[unusual_sith]

Count Lana in as "why is this even an issue", so she didn't actually identify as anything, but if it was a big deal here, she would absolutely show her support. And her lightsaber to anybody who made it a problem.

She was here in a flowy grey tank and pants, but had an interplanetary pansexual pin on, right next to her Alliance pin.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Right. Jon could do this.

He felt a bit awkward in his panromantic asexual shirt. It wasn't like he'd ever tried to identify as something specific, and he almost felt like an imposter, but the definitions did seem to apply, and again - he felt he should try to be a good example for the students.

So. Here he was.

Re: Arrive/Mingle!

[not_a_goddamn_princess]

What, like swan in fashionably late in a skimpy, sparkly rainbow dress and matching eyepatch? 'Cause of course Margo was going to do this right.

"So where's the fun stuff, huh?"

Food/Drinks!

[drumsticksandd20s]

People had been handwavily encouraged to bring food to share, and a few people had already stepped up to do so, but probably nobody was going to turn down extra food. Let's be real, it was Fandom, extra food was probably just going to inexplicably turn up anyway.

[[If you brought food or just want to set up a grill and do a free-for-all cookout, ping in with it here so people can partake!]]

The Jello Table!

[somethingwithturquoise]

Ohhhhh, Summer was so ready for this. Summer soooo needed this right now, and she'd been planning for a few weeks now and picking up some cool new ideas that she was stoked to have on display at the festival that day.

Did it count as day drinking if they were jello shots? If anything, something like this meant the rules on that were a little flexible, but she had plenty of virgin ones available, too, for anyone looking to show some modicum of restraint.

Naturally, there were sets of layered shots in pretty much all the standard pride flag colors and quite a few of the more niche ones as well please feel free to mod them to your heart's content!, but she went more traditional with the real highlights of the offerings.

She suspected the Rainbow Jello Shot Skewers would be a big hit, after all, and even branched out into other less-jello related but too good to pass up offerings with her Vodka Dipped Marshmallow Pops. And moving away from the food on sticks, there were Rainbow Cherry Jigglers, and if no one took advantage of those cherry stems in the obvious ways, she was going to be so disappointed. And the obligatory layered rainbow jello could be taken in the form of a two different and glittery bite-sized shot or you could go all in for a whole-ass slice of the cake.

Was the spread, overall, a little lacking in her usual diversity of ideas? Maybe a bit, if you asked her, but, then again, as far as themes went, this one was pretty...ironically....straightforward. Sometimes you just couldn't deviate from the classics, really.

And, you know, she sort of figured having at least a few shots available for any given pride flag like that had to count for something, right?

Booths!

[drumsticksandd20s]

The nice thing about the booths area here, if you asked Steph, was that you weren't going to find some car dealership or credit card company slapping a rainbow overlay onto their logo and aggressively trying to make a sale or sucker people into a disgustingly high annual percentage rate.

[[Ping in with your booth contributions here! Spur-of-the-moment additions are totally welcome too.]]

Re: Booths!

[sharp_man]

Hannibal was here, with a large umbrella to cover the booth, and a few chairs to sit in. He also had numerous brochures on what various sexualities and identities were defined as, things to do to help someone coming out, and assorted psychobabble, down to a copy of the DSM-5 in case he had to prove to anybody what wasn't in there.

If someone had to bring the academia, he thought it might as well be him.

Games!

[drumsticksandd20s]

The bounce house-slash-ballpit was the main attraction here, of course, but there were a few other carnival-type attractions to be had.

[[If some game isn't accounted for but strikes your fancy, go ahead and add a thread for it!]]

Games: Bounce House

[drumsticksandd20s]

It's big, it's bouncy, it's colorful, and it's got a slide.

Apparently there used to be a kraken-themed slide in previous years, but Steph had figured that might not go over too well, in light of the recent kraken drill.

The Stage!

[drumsticksandd20s]

For the majority of the day, the karaoke/open mic setup held center stage, but to the back of the stage was a set of drums hanging beneath a lesbian flag, with a little Hawt Dawg Man plushie sitting on it and a handwritten sign that read "Steph's. Touch and die..." hanging off the front.

The Stage: Open Mic/Karaoke

[drumsticksandd20s]

Go on up and do some karaoke. Have an impromptu beat poetry session. Hell, bust out some bagpipes or some interpretive tap-dance, or do a dramatic reading of fanfic (but keep it PG-13) if that's what you want to do.

OOC

[drumsticksandd20s]

Have I been waiting for an excuse to link to the adorable clip of Steph and Alex playing "Blister in the Sun" at the Haven Spring Festival? MAYBE.

Re: OOC

[hasaknightjob]

Props for the organization!